Two new Android Wear devices coming early in 2017

Google has confirmed that it will release two new smartwatches powered by Android Wear 2.0 in the first quarter of 2017. Not only will these be the first smartwatches to run on the new version of Android Wear, but they will be made by a third party rather than Google themselves.

Whomever the manufacturer will be has yet to be confirmed by Google, however we do know that they will retain the branding of said manufacturer, rather than the new Pixel or Google branding. This means the watches will be sticking with the branding convention we saw with the, now extinct, Nexus phones.

Jeff Chang, product manager of Android Wear at Google, explained in an interview with The Verge that the new watches are part of a larger push to show consumers that smartwatches, specifically, but wearables in general, are still in demand. According to Chang, other manufacturers, aside from the unconfirmed initial one, will also be releasing new Wear devices for 2017. Once the new smartwatches have been released, Android Wear 2.0 will be released on “most recent smartwatches”, although some features – like Android Pay – won’t be included on devices due to hardware requirements.